Take Art staff visited the Italian and Romanian partners while Carn to Cove staff visited the Lithuanian and Estonian partners. The visits are part of the capacity building programme to build working relationships between the individual promoters and partner organisations. It developed a shared understanding of the different cultural, geographical, economic and social contexts of each area which will underpin the success of this project.

In Italy the staff of Take Art met local promoters from Caldarola, Camerino, Castelraimondo, Mogliano and Sarnano. All the villages are placed in the Macerata territory (Le Marche Region) that was struck by three devastating earthquakes in 2016. Among the Italian regions affected, it was Le Marche that suffered the biggest impact. For this reason, as explained by the Italian local promoters, SPARSE project could be an opportunity to revitalise social and cultural life.

In Romania the staff of Take Art visited the Cluj region, which will be the base of our rural touring network at the start. After meeting in Cluj with some of our local promoters, politicians and people who might be interested in our project we visited two villages nearby: Viștea and Moldovenești. There we've met with our promoters, some locals and we visited their venues. They greeted us with great enthusiasm and hospitality.

In Estonia the staff of Carn to Cove met local promoters from Türi, Antsla, Misso, Võru, Mõniste, Hiiumaa, Saaremaa and Rakvere. Hiiu- and Saaremaa are two biggest islands in Estonia, all the other municipalities are located in different parts of Estonia. The islands offered many different places, so there is opportunity to make separate mini tours as well.

As we have here many outdoor venues, local promoters were especially interested to host performances that are weatherproof.

All promoters felt that this kind of touring network is really good opportunity to offer local audience something different to see and experience.